Nursery World - Positive Relationships: Emotion

Emotions play an important role in our nursery relationships - and
child development. The University of Roehampton's Peter Elfer
explains

Despite many challenges and concerns in the current early years landscape, we can still look back 25 years and reflect on how far we have progressed in understanding the place of emotion in early years practice.

In the early 1980s, the chilling term 'multiple indiscriminate care' (MIC) was used to describe care where many young children were looked after with only fleeting interactions from many different practitioners (Bain and Barnett, 1986). There was little consistency, continuity or emotional attunement. Today, the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), however variable its implementation, at least fully recognises the vital role of emotionally attuned relationships in early years practice.

Register now to continue reading

Thank you for visiting Nursery World and making use of our archive of more than 35,000 expert features, subject guides, case studies and policy updates. Why not register today and enjoy the following great benefits:

What's included